Farmers' Markets

For more than 40 years I have been raising fiber animals to satisfy my own gluttonous spinning habit. I have also been making weak attempts at selling some of the wool, llama, mohair, cashmere and pygora from our flocks on ebay, etsy and various other internet sources. These have met with limited success, mostly because it takes a lot of time to keep up with availability and to answer queries via email, send samples, etc., and also because it is just plain difficult to buy touchy-feely stuff (like yarn and fiber) on line.

Now that I am retired, I have hit upon a wonderful outlet: farmers' markets. We have been taking our wool, yarn and sheepskins to various weekend markets for over a year, and it is one of the high points of our week. Even if sales are slow, I get many hours to spin, meet people, talk about the animals, and share stories. The Vista Farmers' Market is one of the oldest ones in the area, and also one of the largest.

We qualify as growers because (almost) everything we sell is raised by us on land we own in San Diego County, but we can not be certified organic since processed animal products can not be certified, according to the state, and most of our wool is processed:

Dyed Wensleywold locks, millspun Woolllama yarn, and dyed roving waiting to be spun.

So we have added a few cards, like the Itty Bitty Wtty Knitty creations by Kim Cheely and her missionary brother's Project Grace knitters in Nepal. Beautiful little swatches knitted on toothpick-sized needles with wonderfully funny captions. I also carry a small sampling of Eucalan because it is what I use and swear by for washing fine wool items.

Various skeins of handspun yarn, and millspun Woolllama on cones.

We have recently added the new Bonsall Certified Farmers' Market and Open Aire Faire to our list. It is smaller, and newer, but all of the proceeds go into the local schools, so it's a good thing.

A sample of some of the washable sheepskins that we have available.

Love those red wool and silk socks!

If you are in the area, please stop by! If you are not local but are interested in any of these items (or have questions about other fiber-related things) please don't hesitate to email and ask. I take PayPal and checks, and will be happy to send a price list. My email is: lambkamp@earthlink.net

Ready for the market.